CAS rolled out in Kolkata

Kolkata, Jan 1 (UNI) The Conditional Access System (CAS) was introduced midnight last night in zone-I (South Kolkata) here along with Delhi and Mumbai.

West Bengal government's Information and Culture department sources said the CAS was being introduced as per national programme and on first phase the zone-I in the metropolis was picked up.

However, subscribers residing in the CAS notified areas complained of lack of availability of Set Top Boxes STBs, which barred them from viewing pay channels. Only free-to-air channels would be available to subscribers in the post CAS period.

Sources said that enough STBs were available with three out of five Multi Service Operators (MSOs) active in zone-I. ''Enough STBs are available with SitiCable, India Cable Network and CableComm,'' the officials said.

Meanwhile, Telecon Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) Advisor R N Choubey said here today that there was no relaxation in implementation of CAS from today in Kolkata, Mumbai and Delhi.

However, those who have not yet opted for STB would not face blackout but may not get any pay channel.

Mr Choubey said TRAI has delegated powers to the state government to conduct raid and seizure of equipment for any activities of illegal signal transmissions.